Defect management technology for 100 nm generation

In this paper, we report that the control of generation of small particles is quite significant to enhance the yield of ULSI devices with a design rule beyond 100 nm. Observation of defects after silicon nitride film deposition on specially prepared wafers with very low number of COPs (crystal-originated particle), which generate noise signals, shows a steep increase in the number of particles below a 0.1 /spl mu/m range. We found that the behavior of a small particles depended on the ambient in which the wafers were kept before the deposition process. We suspected that tiny pieces of ice produced by freezing moisture droplets became the core for extraordinary film growth. It is important for us to keep the wafer and ambient dry before the vacuum process.